Site Navigation

Site Mobile Navigation

Congress Takes Up Children’s Health Program — Again

The House will observe the last week of President Bush’s presidency by passing an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP – a measure Mr. Bush twice vetoed.

Plans to increase spending on the program, which provides health coverage for children whose families are not poor enough for Medicaid but need help with insurance costs, were a major point of friction between Democrats and the White House the past two years. Now Democrats intend to pass a version similar to the measures rejected by Mr. Bush, although the details were still being worked out.

Given its strong support in both parties, approval of the measure is a lock. Democrats said the health aid was even more important now, given the economic distress many families are experiencing.

“Obviously we all know that one of the aspects of losing a job is, in many instances, losing your health insurance as well,” Representative Steny H. Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland and the majority leader, said. “We are very concerned that we will have a lot of children vulnerable in America.”

While the health insurance measure will be on the House floor, lawmakers in both the House and Senate will be devoting considerable time off of the floor putting together the economic recovery legislation sought by President-elect Barack Obama. They are also bracing for a request from the administration to release the second half of the $700 billion already approved for the Wall Street bailout – a request certain to spark a fight over the handling of the initial money.

Both Democrats and Republicans have raised concerns about how the first installment has been spent and the sparse information revealed by the financial institutions on how they used it. Many lawmakers will oppose the release of additional money, though the refusal can be vetoed by the president, whether it be Mr. Bush or Mr. Obama. The White House would then have to weather an override vote.

The House is already scheduled to consider legislation developed by Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts and chairman of the Financial Services Committee, to put tighter controls on the money and require more disclosure on how it is spent.

The twisting-and-turning case of Roland W. Burris of Illinois is likely to be back before the Senate Democrat leadership this week. Mr. Burris said during an interview Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that he intends to return to Washington this week to try to claim the Senate seat vacated by Mr. Obama. On the same program, Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat and a man who has been in the middle of the Burris fight, appeared ready to see the dispute ended.

“I want to do this in a fair and quick way so that Roland knows his fate,” said Mr. Durbin. “And I hope we can have — I can have another colleague in the Senate.”

Lets tax our way out of this one. Afterall, we have to keep pretending there really is a war on terror and we have to keep paying our millionaire senators half a million bucks each so they can complain about how they dont have the time or energy to even read the bills they vote on (patriot act, bailout). We also have a pressing need to explore mars, the moon, and have I mentioned the importance of securing a democratic afghanastan? Furthermore, the corporate sponsors of the US senate are having a tough year this year so of course their respective proxies will be expected to kick back a little “thanks for getting me elected” cash.

Think abou it, unless we start taxing individual blades of grass in every american’s front yard, how are we going to protect poor little isreal from the bottle rockets that hamas keeps shooting their way, AND give them BILLIONS in economic aid every year?

It’s time for single-payer health insurance that ALL Americans belong to. The wealthy can buy supplementary insurance if they feel the need, but this would be a Social-Security-like obligation that young and old would pay into.

Having lived in Japan, and experienced the very good, no-waiting care I was given, it’s something most Americans just can’t imagine working so well. And my taxes were lower as well. Contrast that with the all-too-common tragedy of Americans going bankrupt over hospital and drug costs. Astonishing in this country.

We need to accept the universality of this basic human need for good health, accept that it’s a national priority, and take profit OUT of staying healthy. Part of the costs could be had by taxing high-fructose corn syrup-laden products and other patently unhealthy foods, tobacco products, and carbon production, in as much as these add to the burden of staying healthy.

How about putting a $2 or $4 or $6 tax on a bottle of soda, which is just as useless and unhealthful as cigarettes. Children’s health is being destroyed by soda and parents who buy it for them are doing them a terrible disservice.

After growing government, growing debt, fighting for hundreds of billions for war and never vetoing a single spending bill while Republicans ran the House and the Senate, S-CHIP was Bush’s first veto. Shame on him!

The fear of job loss in America is actually the fear of losing healthcare coverage. If we divorce health coverage from employers so that you don’t get screwed as a small business or an individual negotiating for coverage, a lot more people could get coverage for the same amount of money.

Idiots are those who want to spend even more when there is all this bailout, economic downturn, goin on…Many Many in both parties supporting this Moronic Big Spend measure and qualify for the the first word moniker

Don’t worry yourself about where the money for all this is coming from. Your rich uncle Sam has more than enough, and if he ever runs out of money, he’ll just take it from Evil Fat Cats. You know, the Evil Fat Cats who employ you.

The very poor and working poor do not pay enough taxes to make a vast difference in the tax table. But they are often the very ones that need help, especially with their children’s health care.

NH has an excellent plan to help their children gain health care, and are struggling to increase the amount budgeted so as to include even more children.

I, for one, as a middle class tax payer, have no problems with my taxes being raised enough to help cover the health care of children in this country. If we have children growing up without adequate health care, we will have the added burden of adults with health problems that might have been assessed and treated when they were children.

When people whinge about how having their taxes raised is an imposition, they mean that they have no intentions of doing without anything even to benefit the greater common good.

AK,
I’m sure those kids had a say about the families they were born into. They must have done something wrong before they were born that makes them deserve no healthcare because their leeching parents have no values.

You’re ridiculous. People who get really sick go to the emergency room anyway and end up costing everyone a lot more in higher premiums. I’d prefer they get preventive care like other insured people in order to reduce the emergency sick care.

President Obama drew criticism on Thursday when he said, “we don’t have a strategy yet,” for military action against ISIS in Syria. Lawmakers will weigh in on Mr. Obama’s comments on the Sunday shows.Read more…